News Releases

In the waning days of the Confederacy, President Jefferson Davis issued an order that the South's gold reserve be moved to a new, safe location, to keep it from falling into Yankee hands. Instead, somewhere between Abbeville, SC and Washington, Ga., it disappeared.

Talent, beauty and grace were abundant at the annual "Miss Lander University" pageant, held January 23 in Lander's Josephine B. Abney Cultural Center Auditorium. Seven students took to the stage to compete for the crown, and this year's pageant incorporated elements of Mardi Gras, drawing on the theme of Lander's 2012 Homecoming festivities.

Lander University's Teacher Preparation Unit is hosting an accreditation visit by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) in September 2012. Interested parties are invited to submit third-party comments to the visiting team. Please note that comments must address substantive matters related to the quality of professional education programs offered, and should specify the party's relationship to the institution (i.e., graduate, present or former faculty member, employer of graduates).

"Seeing is believing" for Lander University's 2011 Young Faculty Teaching Award recipient, Dr. Cynthia Gardner, as she witnesses her former students teaching in classrooms throughout the region. She points to that as one of her best experiences as an assistant professor of education at Lander.

Lander University is one of 11 state colleges and universities in South Carolina participating in the state's Teaching Fellows program, which has won the first Dick and Tunky Riley WhatWorksSC Award for highly effective initiatives in the state.

Ali Hammond, of Saluda, a student in the Lander University Master of Arts in Teaching art education program, was recently awarded the Liz Smith-Cox Scholarship -- which supports the development of aspiring art educators -- by the South Carolina Art Education Association.

Lander University is preparing to introduce a new master's degree program that Dr. Michael Murphy, assistant professor of teacher education, said responds to the national push for "21st century learning initiatives."

Family and friends of Glenas Deloris Green have created an endowed scholarship at Lander University honoring her 30 years as an educator and her compassionate, dedicated service to others. Green, who died in 2010 at age 60, graduated from Lander in 1979 with a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education and went on to earn a master’s in elementary education in 1987.

Lander’s top academic honor for spring 2011 graduates went to Amber Nicole Scates, of Greenwood, who received the Thayer Award. The award is presented on behalf of the family of Dr. Henry K. Thayer to the graduating senior achieving the highest scholastic average, provided that the student has earned at least 60 credit hours in residence at Lander and that the student’s grade point average is at least 3.75.

More than 50 Lander University students were honored recently for their scholastic accomplishments during the 2010-2011 academic year, receiving the top discipline and special awards from the university's four academic colleges. The awards were presented during Lander's annual Academic and Student Life Awards Ceremony.

Lander University recently honored its cocurricular standouts for the 2010-11 academic year, presenting student life awards to the university's top students and student organizations. The awards were announced during Lander's annual Academic and Student Life Awards Ceremony.

Family and friends gathered at Lander University on April 20 to witness the spring induction of 44 students into Lander’s Alpha Chi National College Honor Scholarship Society.
Dr. John Moore, associate professor of philosophy and the chapter coordinator, said the inductees are juniors or seniors in the top 10 percent of their class

The Lander Magazine is a publication distributed primarily to alumni, donors and friends of the university to inform them of recent Lander activities and the accomplishments of faculty, staff, students and alumni. Started in 1972, the magazine is produced with diligent consideration by the Office of University Relations two times each year, with issues in spring and fall.

technology skills and enhance the creative techniques they will bring to the classroom as teachers. The free workshop was conducted by Debbie Jarrett of South Carolina ETV, who shared information with students and education faculty members on the advantages of using Glogster and Digital Story Telling as teaching aids

This semester nine Lander University students and two faculty members attended the South Carolina Council for Exceptional Children Conference in Myrtle Beach. Students held fundraisers to collect money to cover hotel costs and expenses related to the conference. During the conference several of these students and some Lander teaching education alumni made presentations, and received awards and scholarships.

Margaret Young Bennett, a 1997 graduate of Lander University, has won a WYFF-TV Golden Apple Award for excellence in teaching. The television segment that aired in January shows Bennett working with 8-year-old Macy Storm, a special education student assigned to Bennett’s second-grade class at Lake Forest Elementary School in Greenville.
Bennett was nominated by Macy’s parents, who appreciated her efforts to reach Macy and make her feel a part of the class.

The director of Lander University's Montessori teacher education program continues to pile up frequent flyer miles, traveling the world as part of the accreditation and evaluation process for Montessori programs in other countries.
Associate professor of education Barbara Ervin was selected by the Montessori Accreditation Council for Teacher Education (MACTE) to make site visits to colleges and universities in Taiwan twice, Shanghai, China, in 2009, and most recently Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in September and Dublin, Ireland, in November.

Lander University student Melissa Wessinger is preparing to resume the basketball program that she organized earlier this year for disabled children and adults. The first step will be recruiting players. Last season, there were seven players, fewer than the number needed to form two teams, but the group got together weekly for practice sessions and games on Saturday.